Avatar is a must see

Avatar is a must see in 3D - http://htxt.it/DNOq

We're hiring - http:

We're hiring - http://htxt.it/URlI

Would you give up th

Would you give up the chance to be perfect? new post - http://htxt.it/MwIA

The NFL Network is m

The NFL Network is missing their opportunity - new blog post - http://htxt.it/sSog

Creepiness vs. Irrel

Creepiness vs. Irrelevance - new blog post - http://htxt.it/YVMe

Please visit my blog at a new address - http://blog.cgsm.com - Thanks!

Livescribe has the coolest pen computer around

There was an article in Ad Age this week - ‘Can you imagine a business card or a print magazine page that can actually send an e-mail or facilitate the transaction of an online sale? Livescribe’s Pulse Smartpen -- which is a real pen containing a full-powered, internet-accessing computer -- is a tool that makes such actions conveniently possible’.

My family got me a Livescribe pen computer earlier this summer. After initially fooling around with it I became too busy to really dig in and figure out how to get the most out of it. This week I was visiting a client for meetings and brought the pen and notebook and used it to write notes and record (with my client’s full knowledge) some of the proceedings. When I began to distill the notes and recordings I finally realized the power of this great product.

It has a 2MB or 4MB drive in the pen itself and the intelligence of the unit far exceeds my own expectations. T here is also a USB port for syncing to a computer. College students are adopting the Livescribe pen as it is so much easier to carry around than a laptop and has the recording function for lectures as well.

Livescribe Chairman Jim Margraff spoke recently at the IDEA conference in NYC last month and expounded on the power and breadth of the capabilities of Livescribe. AdAge did a nice 3 minute sum-up of his talk and where this is all going is both interesting and exciting. Interactive business cards, print advertisements are something I had not even been thinking about but the folks at Livescribe are doing a great job of taking cool and useful technology and coming up with creative new uses for the device.

The device costs about $200 and you should really check it out. You will see me using it all the time from now on. Here’s a link to AdAge’s 3 minute video on the product.
http://adage.com/video/article?article_id=140864

Bet you want one now.

Will Facebook destroy the class reunion business?

I had the ‘pleasure’ of attending my wife’s high school reunion recently. We both went to the same high school but graduated in different years. There were more than 330 students in my wife’s graduating class (way back in the late 1970’s). 75 people showed up for the reunion and that number included spouses and significant others. It was set up by one of what appears to be several companies that specialize in setting up class reunions. They did an ok job but it was expensive (buffet dinner and open bar was included) and most of the attendees spent their time within 50 feet of the bar and a sad DJ was playing music from the ‘70’s and ’80’s,

I heard several people mention that all that was really needed was a big room with drinks without food. Tracking down people has never been easier and one would think Facebook could even consider getting into the business of helping set up reunions – if people still want to go to reunions in the first place.
After 30 years it is interesting to see how people have turned out even if only 15% of your classmates were able to attend. But social networking has put people back together on a much more personal level (at least initially). One of my still under 30 nieces said she does not even think she’d go to a reunion since she is in touch with the people she wants to be in touch with via FB.

Remember Classmates.com? They are still around but that might not be the case much longer. They too have been undone by Facebook and to a lesser degree MySpace. Same problem. I had a friend tell me that when he was contacted by someone he had not heard from in more than 25 years it was awkward. He said the reason that he hadn’t been in touch with that person was NOT because he could not find him!
Still, I maintain that there is nothing like being there.

But the notion of reunions every ten years (is that really necessary?) seems to me to be a dying proposition. Maybe 25 year and 50 year reunion s (for those that are still around) will survive but I think the heyday of class reunions has come and gone.

What do you think?

An unusual yet high value dinner experience in Amsterdam

In addition to doing the touristy things and drinking what seemed to be a boatload of Heineken, my wife Michele and I enjoyed some very good dining while in Amsterdam over the weekend. A sleek new restaurant called Envy Friday night, (which had a very nightclub-like feel but NO music – it was very strange and we asked the server about it and she rolled her eyes and said she thought the same thing – it was strange), and a Michelin one star restaurant called Vermeer, Saturday night (the 5 course vegetable inspired tasting menu was great paired with wine although there was a scallop in there along the way).

But we went for something completely different (ode to Monty Python) Sunday night. I had heard of but never experienced a ‘house’ dinner. They apparently exist all over the world but I had little knowledge of how they worked (or why for that matter). Through a friend of one of my wife’s friends we were told to go and have dinner at Angelo Agnello’s outside the city center. His reputation as a chef was glowing from those that eaten there. The Hotel Pulitzer where we stayed had not heard of him at all. It sounded interesting if not a bit daring. It was much more than that.

We took a fifteen minute taxi ride to get there. A nondescript apartment building in a non-descript Amsterdam suburban neighborhood. Up three flights of narrow, twisting stairs and we met Angelo. And he offered a memorable dinner and show. Just the two of us. No menu. He did ask Michele on the phone if we liked curry. Hmmm. No pricing (he told us to leave whatever we thought we wanted to pay – the Priceline model of eating dinner).

Starting with caviar and crème fraiche, prawns in a mild garlic and olive oil reduction, salad with tomatoes and homemade feta cheese, a spicy chicken curry, a wonderful lemon tart with meringue, and the offer of cheese (which we simply could not eat). Two bottles of wine (a Greek red and French Red) as well as a glass of port which he got from friends in Portugal.

But what was more interesting was the conversation. Angelo claimed to have lived in 16 countries, spoke 7 languages (he grew up in Mozambique and is of Indian descent), played professional soccer (injuring himself which ended his career) and has cooked in London, France and a host of other places. He has cooked for dignitaries and people from all over the world. He had just catered (all by himself) a dinner for 150 people. Angelo told us that he normally does not sit down with people but we had asked him to join us and he felt comfortable enough to do so. Music played in the background (he regularly asked if we liked the music). Dinner was a 4 ½ hour deal.

We left what we felt was a fair price for the dinner. He seemed quite pleased. In addition to making the feta and cooking the whole meal, Angelo gave us a bottle of the Porto, a host of the Dutch wafer cookies (that he made himself), a bottle of the French red and tried to send us off with a bunch of other parting gifts which we politely declined.

The experience of not knowing what to pay and putting down what we felt was a fair value was truly interesting. My wife and I both felt there was a fair amount of embellishment by Angelo of his exploits. And yet that did not take away from the charm of the evening – it added to it. In fact in one conversation Angelo offered to show us around Amsterdam Saturday night (we declined) and was ready to walk us back to our hotel (we declined that too) after showing us the park that Anne Frank played in near her actual home which was far from where she was hiding in 1942-1944.

I feel that those people that have dinner at Angelo’s miss out on an unusual yet deeply memorable experience. I hope we get the chance to meet Angelo again. And I wonder if there is a model there for name your own price dining? Would you be willing to offer customers the opportunity to pay what they think is fair for your service? Would I? I can’t say I am completely comfortable with the notion but it is interesting to consider.

If ever you get the chance to dine at a local’s house when traveling I suggest you say yes. It will be weird at times but an experience you will never forget.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Dutch Treat – my short trip to Amsterdam

Thursday November 19th - Whenever I get to travel someplace I’ve never been I always try to capture my impressions of the place BEFORE I get there. So as I headed to Amsterdam I thought about what I know about Amsterdam and the Netherlands (or sometimes Holland and that’s odd in and of itself as I cannot think of too many countries that have two names besides Burma/Myanmar).

Let’s see – before I get on the plane - I recall that if one goes to Europe from the U.S. Amsterdam is a gateway to cheap airfares – but I don’t know why. They have canals that freeze sometimes in the winter and people skate around to work and play. Heineken and Amstel beer (I found out that the Amstel river is the primary river in Amsterdam – did not know that). Van Gogh museum. Anne Frank’s hideout house. The red light district. Coffee shops that are smoking lounges and cafés which serve food. It’s cold and rainy a lot. That would be about the sum total of my intimate knowledge of Amsterdam. How provincially American am I?

Tuesday November 24th - While I had intended (ok maybe pondered is better) on posting from Amsterdam, it just didn’t happen. We were having too good a time. Yes we went to the Van Gogh (they pronounce it Van Huff) museum, the Rijksmuseum, did the canal cruise, the visit to the Heineken brewery (complete with 3 samples!), and Anne Frank’s hideout which was in her father’s office. We also went to the red light district which was actually a bit pathetic. We walked by large picture windows in the red light district each having a lingerie-clad working girl on display one looking more bored and morose than the next. The coffee shops were not nearly as plentiful as I imagined but the scent emanating from them was unmistakable. Oh and it was cold and it rained every day but one out of 3 ½ that we were there.

Like most cities that I have recently visited in Europe the international flavor of the city comes through quite notably. Many different languages were heard with visitors prominently from the U.K., France, Belgium and Germany. Apparently many Europeans think Amsterdam is fun for a weekend. And what a ‘biking’ city. I have never seen so many beat up bicycles (even those get stolen I was told) with people from 6 to 76 riding them around at high speeds, riding in all kinds of weather, ringing their little bells just as they swerve to avoid unknowing pedestrians (like me).

Amsterdam (also like most cities I have visited in Europe recently) is expensive. Not only because of the U.S. dollar’s slide vs. the Euro. We went into a grocery store and saw that basic staples are substantially more expensive than in the U.S. .. Perhaps people get paid a bit more but I think they also live in much simpler quarters so that their income is spent more on consumables than rent or mortgage payments. Things we forget about here in the land of plenty and cheap.

The light came back on my Amazon Kindle

As I posted recently I have reconsidered my relationship with the Amazon’s Kindle. Having read the limited warranty that came with the device as well as what is posted on the website it seemed clear to me that after one year there was no guarantee. At the time I was aggravated, unhappy and perplexed. I was wrong too. Sometimes you have to make that phone call.

Of course I did not make it. My wife did since she had originally bought me the Kindle and had worked out the (now) 3 replacement Kindles. She spoke with them (although finding the right customer service number was a little bit tough) about the fact that my Kindle had simply died. They said no problem and sent a replacement Kindle to arrive THE NEXT DAY at Amazon’s expense. It was already loaded with my contact information such that as soon as I charged it up and turned it on it was easy to download the books that I had previously purchased into the replacement device from the content manager.

I am pleased, impressed and yes still a little perplexed. While I still hold that Amazon should send a replacement Kindle to any customer that complains their Kindle has stopped working (which they have done) as long as the customer sends back the old one (still at Amazon’s expense which is the case). But I have two questions.

1) Why don’t they publicize this feature? Possible answer – Amazon does not want to advertise that the device is somewhat fragile since that could undermine overall customer perception particularly in view of the new e-reader devices on the market. Anyone that calls will receive a replacement Kindle but one HAS to call.

2) Did anyone from Amazon actually read my blog post such that they decided to send me a replacement Kindle? I’m hardly one to be over-impressed with my own impact or self-importance so I highly doubt that.

Sales of e-books had reached just shy of $ 100 million as of August 2009 according to the Association of American Publishers. Additionally analysts are calling for sales to triple again over the next 13 months. And the Kindle is Amazon’s best selling item across ALL of its markets.

The Kindle aims to be the I-pod of e-readers. I think Amazon has a good shot there. However I do think they missed an opportunity with me to ‘buy’ up to the newer device the Kindle 2 or large screen tablet. I would have paid 50% (or less) of the purchase price of one of those newer devices. Instead I have a refurbished original Kindle – which I am grateful for but it was an opportunity lost as far as I am concerned.

Of course I could just be being greedy. Amazon continues to prove to be one of the leaders in customer service and satisfaction. And that’s high ground to hold.

MW2 - Modern Warfare is winning the sales game

So maybe you are skeptical that content matters? Here’s food for thought. According to Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had already sold over 1.2 million copies the first day of release in the U.K. alone.

There are some experts questioning the reporting data and how those numbers could be tabulated so quickly. I’m no expert but am questioning them too. Are they counting units shipped? If so, that should be pretty easy. The fervor is a demand creator. Clever don’t you think?

Extrapolating from the U.K. sales data and the approximate 2-to-1 relationship between Modern Warfare 2 and the previous U.K. record holder Grand Theft Auto IV, Schachter has estimated that Modern Warfare 2 has sold around 7 million units across the globe in its first 24 hours. For comparison purposes, GTA IV sold "only" 3.7 million units on its first day. The game costs U.S. $ 60 (or you can buy the Prestige edition for $ 160) – if you can get it at all. Analysts are saying that MW2 will sell over $ 1 billion dollars of the game in just a few months.

How many products do you know of that have the capacity to sell a billion dollars in as short a time frame as several months? My 20 year old son has obtained the game and rates it a WOW! (not World of Warcraft which is another HUGE franchise). He is not at all surprised the game is doing so well – it’s that good – or so he says
since I have not seen nor played the game and likely will not ever do so.

My WOW was the speed and breadth of how MW2 caught the attention not just of gamers but business people (jealous ones no doubt). What it means to me is that if a company comes up with the right product, at the right price, for the right audience, amazing success is still possible.

In a constantly changing world some things won’t change so much. And that’s reassuring to me. Is it to you?

First sleep and second sleep - the good old days?

I got 7 ½ hours last night and almost always get from 7-8 hours of sleep nightly. I have been thinking about how people sleep today versus throughout human history. Full disclosure - one of our clients Tempur-Pedic is a highly successful manufacturer of mattresses but they know nothing (and are not the least bit concerned) of my blog posts.

What got me thinking about the history of sleep was something I read not long ago about Ben Franklin and sleeping during the time of the American Revolution. Apparently there was a ‘first sleep’ and ‘second sleep’. Such that people would get up after sleeping for several hours in the middle of the night and be awake for some period of time prior to going back to sleep after sleep halftime.

From Wikipedia - Segmented sleep, divided sleep, bimodal sleep pattern and interrupted sleep are modern Western terms for a polyphasic or biphasic sleep pattern found in medieval and early modern Europe and many non-industrialized societies today, where the night's sleep is divided by one or more periods of wakefulness. This is particularly common in the winter. Maybe they were talking about NFL coaches who seemingly sleep in their offices in season.

Because members of modern industrialized societies, with late hours facilitated by electric lighting, no longer have this sleep pattern, they may misinterpret and mistranslate references to it in literature. Common interpretations of the term 'first sleep' are 'beauty sleep' and 'early slumber'. A reference to first sleep in the Odyssey was translated as such in the 17th century, but universally mistranslated in the 20th.

Far be it for me to get into things like REM (Rapid Eye Movement), Circadian rhythms, and dreams (I will leave that to Aristotle and Freud), but it is interesting to me that in all of human history only over the last 200 years (gas lighting came into practice in 1807) or so have humans sleep habits dramatically changed. It seems to me that many people do not value sleep as much as they should. The health benefits of a good night’s sleep are fairly well documented. It also helps make people less cranky (maybe President Obama should mandate sleep for Congress as they seem particularly cranky although it might be due to them getting too much sleep in House and Senate sessions).

But the notion of a true ‘first sleep’ with an ‘awake’ period in between and a ‘second sleep’ is foreign to me and, I would imagine, most people. I wonder how Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan ‘slept’. Did they get their 8 hours? Rampaging and pillages is very tiring after all. Maybe it is that since there was so much less to do at night before the advent of electricity, sleep was valued more as a pastime? After all, until recently people did not have Facebook to keep them up at night.

How about you – do you have a nightly targeted sleep amount? And are you cranky when you don’t get it?

Catalog hunter - Shopping for the holidays will be different this year

Noticed the traffic in your postal mailbox (isn’t it ironic it needs to be designated that way now?) lately? Or better, the lack of traffic? It’s no secret that mailers have cut back dramatically on promotional mailings.
According to Mintel in the first quarter of 2009, credit-card issuers cut solicitations in half, reducing mail volume 49% vs. Q408. The research company estimates that US card issuers sent fewer than 500 million offers in Q109, the lowest quarterly total recorded since 2000.

Though credit is being cut back, the data shows that the number of debit card mail offers nearly doubled from Q408 to Q109, while checking account solicitations grew by 29%.

But that’s merely on part of the story. The days of doing the heavy lifting of holiday catalogs in your home also appear to be over. Even though I watch and keep close tabs on the industry I still am shocked at how few catalogs we receive at home. And we (ok maybe my wife and daughter) have a history of buying via catalogs.

Marketing strategists interested in reducing expenditures have seemingly won out here, convincing many traditional catalogers to not mail at all or substantially reduce the volume and page counts of their catalog mailings. While this can make the bottom line look better in the short term in the long term this tactic will likely backfire and in a big way. Catalogs drive online sales. And retail sales. As much progress as has been made in tracking the ability to track online and retail sales driven from the receipt of a catalog or mailing still leaves a lot to be desired.

And what of the relationship (companies love to think they have relationships with their customers) with customers? Sure customers and prospects can be sent emails (provided they have given their permission) but the customer ‘experience’ is vastly different to that of receiving a physical catalog.

Customers will forget about companies that do not mail any more. Out of sight, out
of mind has not changed even in a wobbly economy. Better tracking or catalog recipients will aid in offering an understanding of exactly how the customer wants to engage with a brand. If cross channel data cannot be tied together, then it’s possible, even likely, the wrong conclusion can be reached.

I’m not advocating wantonly sending catalogs the way it was done five or even ten years ago. But the drastic reduction in this channel offers great opportunity for a smart marketer to gain share of voice and more importantly increased sales, better relationships with customers and conduits to new customers.
I enjoy receiving and flipping through a nice catalog that contains things in which I am interested. Don’t you?

A value proposition – the big supermarket vs. your local grocery

In my small town we have two food/multi-purpose markets in the town center. One is a nationally recognized chain owned by a large public company. The other is a local grocery called the Village market that has been in existence for more than 70 years. Both offer different value propositions and I shop at both for different reasons.

When it comes to pricing the big box supermarket cannot be beaten. So for basic staples the big box is where I do my shopping. The clerks are quite pleasant, the store is clean and bright and there are many choices. But for things like fresh produce, a butcher that grinds meat on the premises, (unlike the supermarket), and overall higher quality ingredients, we go to the local grocery. The people there are even more pleasant and they go out of their way to pack your bags and even help take them to the car if that’s what you need. They have a better salad bar, better fresh soups and their selection of fish is also better than the supermarket.

And to no one’s surprise the local grocery is of course more expensive than the supermarket, at times substantially so. It is bothersome since to get the best deal and the best quality products, you actually need to go to two markets that are well within walking distance of one another (almost nobody ever actually does this however). The parking lot is much easier to navigate at the local grocery although it does tend to get quite full (it is solely dedicated to the grocery), whereas the supermarket has a vast parking lot that is seemingly never full since it shares space with a number of stores.

The owner of the grocery is quite visible in town, donating food to many causes and helping out residents in a number of ways. And while I am certain that the grocery is quite a profitable enterprise I don’t begrudge its success since it continually delivers on the promise of ‘being large enough to have what you want - small enough to get to know you.’

I don’t know what would be the ‘promise’ of the large supermarket, other than we have a lot of stuff and we are low-priced and we have cool scanning so you can check yourself out.

But what I am most happy about is that we actually have a choice and they are so dramatically different. I like having choices don’t you? - Especially when the choices are so easy to contrast and compare.

The fire went out on my Amazon Kindle – and I’m NOT happy!

As an early adopter (November 2007) of the Kindle I have been a rather ardent fan of what could now be considered the forerunner of e-readers. I recently downloaded several titles that I wanted to read. I opened my Kindle the other night to see some odd horizontal lines across the entire screen yet the device was in the off position. After charging and recharging with no change in the display it was obvious that the flame had gone out on my Kindle.

Out of warranty (this one was more than a year old) apparently I am out of luck. So now I have several titles in my account that I cannot view unless I purchase a new Kindle or I guess return my Kindle to Amazon (at my cost) and hope that they can somehow repair it for less than the cost of the now reduced price of $ 259. I paid $ 399 for mine and it does thrill me that not once did Amazon offer me some sort of discount on purchasing the latest version which apparently is superior to the one that I have. Of course mine now does not work at all so a book with no printing is on a par.

A little history – the first one I received did not work and I had to send it back. Amazon had me check a bunch of things prior to agreeing to replace it which they did with no questions asked. Then I had another one which after several months also went dead. Again through the checklist that Amazon has you do on the phone (a half hour or so) with their tech person before they assented to my sending it back for yet a third which I received and has been working fine for more than a year.

I have been (and remain) a fan of Amazon in general. Jeff Bezos is a smart guy and has defied his critics in managing a company that has a stellar reputation for customer service and intuitive product offerings. But I really don’t understand the idea of not offering a replacement for a broken Kindle ANY TIME a customer asks. After all aren’t I going to use that platform to purchase e-books for the foreseeable future? And I buy a fair amount of books. I can ‘return’ those titles that I downloaded but have not read for some sort of rebate but that really does not solve my problem. I love e-readers (as well as traditional books) and think they will only get better (how about color folks and a back-lighted screen option?).

So now I have to reconsider my entire relationship with Amazon’s Kindle. Maybe the Sony Reader, or the new device from Plastic Logic, or maybe even the new Barnes & Noble device. What a shame, the Kindle had me at hello.

Direct marketing shouting should end with the passing of Billy Mays

Yell loud enough and people will hear you. That premise has enveloped television direct response ads for many years. Billy Mays was a prime example of an affable yeller. At the recent Direct Marketing Association conference I came away with a sense that maybe, just maybe the days of shouting out a promotional message are coming to an end. I hope that is the case.

Today’s consumer has many ‘channel choices’ when it comes to information. While there remain a substantial number of people that actually watch infomercials, (c’mon you know who you are) Gen Y’ers and Millennials look at infomercials with bemusement and at times with condescension. Those groups are the future of commerce. The real question is will people still respond to being shouted at?

Audience relevancy, offer, and interesting creative continue to rule the day when it comes to direct marketing and as far as I am concerned MARKETING in general. I can safely opine that this will not change. But in a world where the laws of attraction have taken hold in the advertising world is there still room for shouting out the message in order to be heard?

Today more than ever consumers need to be drawn to a brand and its message. We all talk about higher levels customer engagement, about creating a better and more enjoyable (even fun) customer experience. Personally when I am shouted at I shut down and really don’t hear the message.

Billy Mays was phenomenally successful and a true marketing legend. Here’s hoping that with his passing we see the beginning of the end of the shouting of advertising messages. We all deserve much better. Don’t you think so?

.Mobi websites are a must have for 2010

In a report, titled "Mobile Devices Market Sizing and Share," market research firm ABI says that more than 171 million smart phones were shipped in 2008 compared to 116 million shipped in 2007. The report says that smart phones accounted for 14 percent of all cell phones shipped in 2008. ABI noted that the sales are expected to grow 18% to 203 million 2009 as operators seek to sell lure users with aggressive strategies. Strategy Analytics estimates that smart phone shipments will total 177.2 million in 2009. Juniper Research forecasts that annual sales of smart phones will rise by some 95 percent to more than 300 million between now and 2013. The report says that by 2013 at least 23 percent of all new mobile phones will actually be smart phones.

OK so we all get it – smart phones are the future – and actually the present. But how many times have you tried to access a site on your smart phone and waited, and waited and waited for the pages to load? This is because the site you are accessing is not optimized for viewing on a mobile device.

100% of .mobi sites must be optimized for viewing on a mobile phone, the main advantage of .mobi, from the users' perspective, is that they are theoretically guaranteed a site optimized for usage on the go. This means the website can be optimized for hard factors such as smaller screens, device form/size, device input/output options, existence of embedded sensors (acceleration, location, touch, etc.), as well as soft factors such as expectations of immediacy of results, context awareness under a shortened attention span (compared to home use of the Internet). Although a .com or any other extension can technically employ the same optimizations for mobile phones as .mobi sites, in practice, only a fraction of them are, thus necessitating content adaptation solutions.

3G transmission speeds are pretty fast, but nowhere near what people have become accustomed to when we use super fast 100MPS+ connections via cable or fiber optic networks. Personally when I have to wait more than, oh let’s say 2 seconds for a page to load I begin to get impatient and even a bit annoyed. (I bet I am far from alone here). .Mobi sites address this far better than any increase in transmission speed can – at this point. It won’t be long before smart phone transmission speed rivals that of cable and fiber optic wired connections –of course for me that day cannot come soon enough.

People will have to become more familiar with going to the .mobi sites but many sites when accessed on a smart phone give the option to go to a mobile version that is optimized. The experience and interfaces are so much better – check it out for yourself and let me know what you think.

Direct Marketing Association thoughts - is it still relevant?

As I sit in the San Diego Airport waiting to go home I have just spent three nice days in one of America’s nicest cities. I have attended my 22nd DMA conference. This membership organization that began as the Direct Mail Association became the Direct Mail Marketing Association (DMMA) then and now the DMA.

Like many associations the industry conferences is the primary revenue source. After years of growth in attendance, vendor participation and offerings, the 2008 DMA saw a significant drop in all three areas. It took place in Las Vegas 2 months after the financial crisis ensued. In additional the DMA reduced its staff substantially and I still feel bad for former DMA employees I know for a long time who’ve yet to find new jobs.

My thoughts as I headed out to San Diego centered a testy proxy fight between a DMA board members and the DMA board itself. Many of our clients and my colleagues decided not to attend this year for various reasons, expense being the primary reason given. I think that those folks should regret their decision not to attend.

The DMA still has its feet firmly implanted in direct mail and old habits die hard. But the leadership of the DMA has recognized the move to new marketing channels and has made strides in making information and learning on new marketing channel a focus. The proxy fight was settled and I for one was happy with the points brought up and the resolution. The DMA is an organization that can well use some pot stirring. And the exhibit hall while a nice place to see old friends and associates but walking around the floor makes me feel like I am caught in my own ground-hog day moment. It’s not working and feels outdated.

We direct marketing folks like to cite the measurability of the direct marketing process. We are even a bit smug about it. For what reason I do not know as the rest of the advertising world has always considered direct marketers red-headed stepchildren as long as I have been involved. But I did hear a lot of honest talk (particularly at the DMA Global Leaders Forum held on Monday) questioning if direct marketers are measuring the right things when it comes to web analytics and e-commerce in general.

It’s fine to have all these cool tools but if the wrong things are being measured or the measurements are not indicative of what is really happening we are drinking our own Kool-Aid. I think it is great that these kinds of questions are asked and answered – or at least they are trying to be answered.

I read Ad Age, Adweek, DM News, and occasionally Brandweek, and more and more the stories are similar. All marketers and marketing agencies direct and otherwise are trying to do the same things for their clients – help acquire and retain more customers. The marketing world has been turned on its head in the past nearly two years. Lower marketing budgets, higher accountability and demand for better ROI have changed the landscape for ever more. I am more optimistic that the DMA is heading on the right path and can and will remain a relevant organization.

The trouble with email opt-outs – they are killing what’s left of email marketing

We had an employee recently depart our company and agreed to forward emails to the employee's personal email for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks the emails were then redirected to an address back at our company. I was assured by the former employee that the individual had opted out of newsletters and sea of emails they received on a daily basis (many, many emails), yet the deluge continued.

So I opted out on the employee’s behalf. That stemmed some of the tide but far from all of it. What began as a desire to simply stop the madness ended being a study in deception. I have come to realize that despite best practices being an easy email opt-out (most of the companies did have this procedure) there were a good number of companies that did not have an easy opt-out, and even more that ignored the opt-out request by continuing to send daily emails even after an acknowledgment was sent saying ‘sorry to see you go’. Those companies are not only breaking the law, they are taking down the medium day by day.

Our company supports email marketing to current customers as well as those would-be customers that have opted in to receive more information. We rarely use email as a customer acquisition tool. And for the Generation Y folks and Millennials email is a passé form of communication. It is seen as an irrelevant communication tool and my recent experience only goes to support that notion. And ask for an email address from someone and you are 6 times more likely to get it than to get access to their Facebook account. Pretty easy to see which is the more relevant communication.

What possible benefit could a charity, marketer, or anyone for that matter gain from continuing to send out emails to those that do not wish to receive them? Aggravating them? An unusual marketing tactic to be sure but I am hard pressed to think of any other reasons other than dishonesty, laziness or plain stupidity.

Email opt out should be obvious, easy and immediate. Those that are not doing so are just killing it for the rest of us.

Power Reviews are flying high

We have a fairly small company (www.YourCover.com) that has recently signed up for Power Reviews (www.powerreviews.com). The team brought this idea to me and I got very excited thinking that since we receive such positive customer feedback we are bound to benefit from being a part of Power Reviews.

In today’s (10/12/09) Wall Street Journal Geoffrey A. Fowler’s interesting article on the Business Solutions page notes (http://bit.ly/3tUjbx) that Drugstore.com and Diapers.com both feel they are better connecting their brand to consumers by using Power Reviews. The article also talked about creating ‘verified buyers’ who would have badges next to their reviews in order to add authenticity to their reports.

Amazon.com was the pioneer here but now product reviews are ubiquitous. Last week I noticed another article citing that reviewers in general are overwhelmingly positive – 4.3 out of 5 ‘stars’ is the average rating. But the article also went on and noted that one particular reviewer was going the other way and not throwing around platitudes of positivity when it came to different products he encountered. And that the trend was that reviewers would become harsher as time goes on. So it could be said that these are the salad days for product reviews.

Are product reviews a component of social networking? I say yes. Is there a risk in having negative reviews posted about your product? Absolutely. But there is even greater risk is an attempt to steer or manipulate the conversation. Not everyone will love your product and while deep down we all know that it is quite another thing to have someone publicly slam your product for all to see.

What we hope to learn from (hopefully) YourCover.com having an active Power Review flow is how we can make the product and service better for our present and future customers. Not every review will be positive – nor should it be if the conversation is truly genuine. Of course we hope and expect that most of the comments will be positive, (hey we’re not masochists here), and that we are able to learn from what people think about their experience with our site and products.

I suspect for companies using Power Reviews that there will be bogus reviews – both on the positive and negative side. This is why there are recommendations to tie reviewer’s comments to their Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn page. Then there would be background on the reviewer such that you will ‘know’ them better. After all then you are getting a recommendation from a known and ‘trusted’ resource.

The question I have is – why should these folks be trusted?

Facebook fan pages - who are they serving?

I sat through a 3+ hour presentation last week by a noted social media ‘expert’. He had much to offer and kept the presentation moving and also took time to answer questions along the way which I always like to see. However despite the fact that he had spoken to groups like ours a number of times the presentation did not resonate as much as it could have because he did not do his homework on the audience. Our group is a diverse group of executives that run companies of varying sizes and distinctly different focuses.

When the conversation turned to Facebook fan pages it was his opinion that ALL companies should have a Facebook fan page. It was all I could do to not jump and say – WHY? WHAT FOR? For instance my company is a direct and digital marketing agency. Why would somebody ever want to be a fan of my company?

Furthermore the strategy was to contact people in my Facebook friends and ask them to be a ‘fan’ of my company. Since I use Facebook as a place to keep up with friends and family I felt strongly that it was a cheesy notion to ask them to be a ‘fan’ of my company. I don’t think of my Facebook relationships as a platform for business offers.

I do have friends that have retail oriented businesses that have Facebook fan pages. This makes sense to me. If you have a retail business (restaurant, gym, boutique) having a fan page allows the distribution of special offers, sales, and other types of promotions. A FB fan page in retail businesses offers the potential of real added value to those that have decided to become ‘fans’.

Where I don’t see FB fan pages working well is in the business to business sector. Would you want to be a FB fan of your health or car insurance company? GEICO actually has a fan page with more than 6,000 fans. What are these people receiving for their fandom? More offers on additional insurance? My guess is they are not receiving deeper insurance rate discounts than the general population so where would there be value?

How about a DMV FB fan page? (Ok that would never happen anyway).

What I am missing here?

The good the bad and the ugly in couponing

We have a local restaurant here in town that serves Brazilian food. The food is quite good but it is a bit on the expensive side so I reserve it for more special occasions. In my local paper this morning I saw a ¼ page advertisement for the restaurant – the first time I had ever noticed one of their ads. The restaurant has been around for a little over a year (I think).

The ad offered $ 9.99 all you can eat on Monday and Wednesday nights. Since per person a full meal without beverage can easily cost $ 30.00 that seemed like a good deal – in fact a REALLY good deal. But in the SAME SMALL AD they also had another note saying 5% off with this coupon for orders over $ 20.00. HUH? 5% off of $ 20.00 is $ 1.00. This is supposed to motivate me? Off a $ 50.00 check it’s $ 2.50 – that does not even equal the tax!

This isn’t just bad marketing; it’s plain stupidity. Any positives generated from the interesting offer of $ 9.99 all you can eat (I do wonder what menu items would be available for all you can eat at $ 9.99) is offset by the bizarre $ 5% discount offer. In fact I don’t recall ever seeing a 5% discount for a restaurant ever before.

A different local pizzeria (Planet Pizza) which has several locations in our county does send out coupons upon occasion. But last night when it was duty to pick up the pizza to bring home for dinner I realized I had no coupon around. I recalled that coupons are available on their website. So I went to their website, clicked on the individual location I wanted and was able to download a $ 4.00 off Val-Pak coupon for my order which had to be over $ 15.00 (and was). It was so easy and the store seemed quite content to take the coupon which I told them made me happy. The pizza was great and I got it for less. Win-win.

These were two examples of completely different ways of handling a coupon. The first does not get it, the second does. Make sure if you are offering a value (discount) to your customers you make it clear and easy to understand and redeem. This isn’t that difficult folks.

Celebrities and holl

Celebrities and hollow apologies - http://htxt.it/FUe7

Celebrities and holl

Celebrities and hollow apologies - http:www.markkolier.wordpress.com

Celebrities and hollow apologies

What do Serena Williams, Manny Ramirez, Mark Sanford, and Kanye West have in common? Unless you have been living under a rock you probably guessed (correctly) that all have I one way or the other embarrassed themselves and their fans. All of them also engineered an ‘apology’ of sorts.

Here in the United States we live in the land of second (ok maybe third and fourth) chances. I actually do feel that second chances are often worthwhile since people make mistakes. Honest ones often.

But is it my imagination or do I sense a strategic shift by those who commit egregious and stupid acts? Almost as if when one makes a terrible decision, or acts rashly and unthinkably, even violently, that all a celebrity needs to do is issue a seemingly heartfelt apology and most people will issue a free pass. After all it seems to me that what Americans like more than a second chance is a good comeback story.

And I have nothing against Serena, Manny, and Kanye and have appreciation and respect for their individual talents. I don’t know enough about Mr. Sanford and that’s actually just fine with me. But I am not buying their apologies. To me they all smack of insincerity and positioning. Ask yourself the following: will their behavior change at all in the future? If not (and that’s my position) then their ‘apologies’ are nothing more than a weak marketing statement to engender some positive reactions from their fans and followers.

But insincere marketing is the absolute worst marketing of all. It does not work in the long run and maybe not even in the short run.
What bothers me the most is that too many people actually buy this garbage? It should take less than the actions of a Bernie Madoff to create public outrage. Nobody seems to be buying his apology. Why should the others get a free pass?

The marketing of the United States Marine Corps

It’s often said that it ‘takes one to know one’. As a dedicated marketer I appreciate a good marketing effort as much if not more than the next guy. This past Thursday and Friday I had the experience and honor to attend a forum sponsored by the USMC – the MCBEF (Marine Corps Business Executives Forum).

The MCBEF is an outreach program catering to business CEO’s and company Presidents my fellow Vistage (CEO group – http://www.vistage.com ) members were enticed with the promise of live-fire exercise, a private tour of the Pentagon as well as a ride on a Marine helicopter.

It was an awesome and exhausting day. We had dinner the night before with several Marines in attendance that would be our ‘hosts’ for the following day (meeting at 0700). Getting to know more about both the individuals and their lives in the Marine Corps offered insight and one-to-one interaction that personalized the experience right from the start. An excellent start.

We began the day at the Air Force Memorial (who says the service branches can’t get along?) which offered a view of the Pentagon and was directly in the flight path of Flight 77 which struck the Pentagon where 184 people perished on 9/11. This was followed by a visit to the somber and moving Pentagon 9/11 memorial adjacent the Pentagon prior to going inside.

Our ‘tour’ of the Pentagon was led by a Marine who could not have been more than 22 years old and could not have been more impressive. We moved swiftly (this was the mode of the day) and the highlight was a nearly one hour briefing by a Brigadier General that included a Q & A. No none of the information was classified (we had access but not that kind of access). But collectively I believe we all left that briefing with even more confidence in the leadership of the Marine Corps as the questions and answers were truly engaging and sometimes revealing.

It got even better. A short bus ride to an airfield had us all hopping on a CH-46 Sea Knight military helicopter for a 25 minute trip down to Quantico AFB. Sitting there with my ear protection on, unable to talk with my fellow members due to the noise I could almost get a feeling of what it might be like to be a 20 year old Marine heading to a remote locations trying to sort out thoughts before being
dropped into battle. Almost.

We witnessed a demonstration of martial arts techniques followed by a ride to the firing range. Prior to having the opportunity to shoot 9MM pistols, M-16 rifles and M240 light machine gun we were given the opportunity to experience MRE’s (meals ready to eat) for lunch. Glad I was hungry. We all were happier that we do not have to eat MRE’s again for a long time if ever.

A tour of the Marine Corps Museum (very impressive and worth visiting) finished the day off with a visit to the Tun Tavern replica in the museum.

What did the Marine Corps want from our group? As it was put – ‘nothing and everything’. Nothing in particular but their hope is that with a deeper and more personal relationship our members would have more understanding and consideration of support for Marine Corps needs such as the V22 Osprey, and new aircraft that has lukewarm support in the White House.

What they got from me is a greater sense of appreciation for what Marines are like, what they do and how lucky we Americans are to have this competent and dedicated force protecting our country.

It’s my feeling that we all got what we wanted and then some.

From the Halls of Montezuma

Through an Executive Group called Vistage we have been invited to take part in a one day MCBEF (Marine Corps Business Executive Forum) program. I leave today. My feeling is that most if not all of us, are quite eager and excited to take part in this educational opportunity.

From the Brigadier General this statement was included in our welcome kit. ‘The intent of MCBEF is to introduce senior business executives and influential community leaders from around the country to U.S. Marine Corps interests. MCBEF has proven to be a successful outreach program that is expanding the Corps' relationship with America's business executives and opening doors for the Corps' future outreach initiatives.’

We will do some really cool things like have dinner with Marine Corps officers, a Pentagon briefing, and even live-fire exercises which should be REALLY interesting since I have never discharged a firearm in my entire life. We will also visit the Quantico Base and possibly may be transported by military helicopter. Yes I had to sign my life away as even the Marine Corps folks have liability concerns.

I know little about the Marine Corps. Aside from the Marine Corps hymn (From the halls..) which highlights U.S. engagements (from the shores of Tripoli which meant a different thing than it does now), I know that Marine’s are tough, principled, Always faithful (‘Semper Fidelis’ or ‘Semper Fi’!), and where there is trouble in the world they go first.

I look forward to learning more and sharing whatever I can in a future post. Of course only what is not classified. There may be things I don’t think you need to know.

I wonder if any Marines have read my blog posts before our visit? Or after?

How marketing can be like playing golf

This is a little bit of a stretch but there is what I hope an interesting thread here.

Anyone that has seen me play golf knows that I have to be a much better marketer than I am a golfer. Lately I have been playing better and more consistently so than ever before. Practice always helps but focused practice has made a difference. I thought about the fact that there are some similarities in honing my golf skills that are akin to honing my skills as a marketer. For both I am in a ‘continual improvement’ campaign. Fortunately for my family do not need to depend on my golf skills to help support us. That’s a very good thing.

I love working on marketing projects for clients new and old. New client initiatives and challenges keep me fresh and interested. I also love playing golf as well as a place to clear my head and focus on the task immediately at hand.
There are a number of tools in my personal marketing toolbox that I employ when working on various projects. If I am doing it right I am using the right tools for the right engagements. I like to think that most of the time I get it right. Approaches for both marketing and golf at times have to be tweaked after learning a better method. That’s how we improve such that we can create an even better program or play a winning game. (Yes both marketing and golf are very competitive if you have not noticed).

I carry 14 clubs in my golf bag and there are choices to be made on which club to hit, whether to play a high or low ball flight and how to negotiate getting around the inevitable trees that always seem to get between my ball and the target.

Marketing at times can have obstacles that remind me of trees, bunkers, and water hazards on the golf course. There are times to be bold and take chances and times to be conservative and play it safe. The right partners can be invaluable in marketing as well as on the golf course. In golf a good partnership is often called ‘ham and eggs’. The same should be said for marketing partnerships as well.

I will never be anything like Tiger Woods on the golf course but I do think I and our agency has the chops to be a Tiger Woods to our clients. But on both counts I won’t ever stop trying to achieve that kind of greatness. It inspires me and keeps me thinking that my next marketing project or golf game has the potential to be my best ever. Until I go out and play again.

Terrestrial radio co

Terrestrial radio continues to hang - on new post - http://htxt.it/ctiH

Terrestrial radio co

Terrestrial radio continues to hang on - new post www.markkolier.wordpress.com

Being there makes al

Being there makes all the difference - new blog post http://htxt.it/bPvO

Leadership lessons f

Leadership lessons from Gettysburg - new blog post http://htxt.it/i4iQ

Recommendation syste

Recommendation systems are great but here’s one that would never work - new blog post - http://htxt.it/5utV

The Dark Side of Twitter

I have been ‘Tweeting’ for nearly a year. It has been an interesting experiment and I have blogged more than a couple of times about what I am experiencing on Twitter. I still ask myself if and how Twitter.com can be used by our agency and our clients as a business application (there are a few examples where I think it works).

The seemingly greatest impact is the social aspect of disseminating information in real time. Events like the shootings in Mumbai, India in 2008 and the current upheaval in Iran were and are well-chronicled in the form of real time tweets. In India it gave the world its first knowledge of the terrible carnage as it occurred and in Iran it has become a way for the world to see what is really going on inside that troubled country.

When I started on Twitter the community appeared to be primarily composed of marketers, news agents and those interested and willing to share information in the form of links and pithy sayings. Then it evolved to become an environment with many people ready to show you how to make money on Twitter – to dominate and blow everyone else out of the water. Such joy! More recently I am seeing Twitter being used to promote pornographic photos (I have some new followers like Amber who wants to share things). Twitter is pretty good about shutting down inappropriate content but the tide is rising so fast that I think the wave may inundate the Twitter universe.

Like the early days of the internet there are Twitter squatters and all kinds of misrepresentation. Just yesterday Biz Stone (Twitter’s founder) acknowledged that Twitter is attempting to come up with a 24 hour response time to protestations about misuse of Twitter names. The Real Shaq has emulators who are all fake Shaq’s. Twitter is also working on a verification system which they say should be released shortly – and none too soon.

All this and there still is no model for Twitter to monetize what it is doing. Combine that with a universe of would-be ‘Twitter marketers’ that for the most part offer nothing much at all and I can easily envision Twitter entering an impending death spiral.

Twitter can be useful and even cool. But unless things change quickly the dark side may well soon overshadow and consume its universe and force it into a black hole.

Respect my time!

I have spent the better part of my professional career reaching out to prospective customers so I like to think I have a pretty good feel for what works and what does not. Back in the day (this is a relatively recent expression that has become seemingly ubiquitous but I always wonder why?) when I was a young sales guy there were secretaries, assistants and other gatekeepers. Also when I started working there were no individual computers on people’s desks. The old-fashioned letter and the telephone were the primary ways to reach a new prospect.

I heard some of the great excuses about why a prospect could not speak to me. One of the best was when I asked to speak to Mr. Smith the assistant/secretary responded ‘He’s in his office but he’s out of the office.’ Apparently Mr. Smith was a really tricky guy. I knew I needed to refine my approach and did.

Today I am the guy on the other end of the phone when someone calls looking to sell me something or get me to do something. So I respect and respond to a professional and even creative approach. Sadly those approaches are too few and far between.
I don’t have an assistant or (gasp!) a secretary. I never have. I rarely screen my calls. So while I am difficult to reach because of my travel and schedule I do pick up the phone quite regularly having no idea who is on the other end. I have an idea that many people that call me, once they go into voice mail they bail out.

A short summary on the types of cold calls I receive:
1)The young stockbroker - either they call and ask me to hold for someone else(I
hang up), or my first name is uttered and the broker goes right into his pitch(I
hang up).

2)Someone claiming to know a buyer who is buying businesses similar to mine. I simply ask them what my company does. They never seem to know (I hang up).

3)Other ‘professionals’ try to sell me some product or service. If I am not
asked if this a good time or not I give them 10 seconds, then I hang up.

I am hardly averse to be contacted by phone, email or postal or other mail. But keep in mind I may have absolutely no need or desire for your product or service. Ask me if I have a moment to speak or not – more often I will say no but that is a ticket to calling me back at some future date.

Don’t expect me to call you back after you have left me a voice mail in which you did not identify your company or what you calling about. In that instance I NEVER WILL CALL YOU BACK. EVER.

Do – send me a letter suggesting that you will contact me to discuss something you know is relevant to our business.

It’s not that hard folks – just respect the other person’s time.

A great opportunity for Tiger Woods to re-brand himself as ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’

Of course the artist who formerly was named Prince tried this and yet is currently named Prince. So it doesn’t always work. But the spectacular and amazing golf career that Mr. Woods has produced to date is the stuff of which legends are made. Tiger is so much better than his peers that fellow U.S. top ten golfer Jim Furyk was heard to say to reporters recently – ‘I wish you'd all quit pissing him off,” he said jokingly of Woods, ... and make him come back and keep proving stuff. Tiger Woods is always Tiger Woods. But what if he wasn’t called Tiger Woods anymore?

Last week he hit two great shots on the last two holes, which enabled him to come back and win the tournament. I mentioned to my wife that there’s another one for the legend that is Eldrick which is actually Tiger’s true first name. She had never heard his real first name before and noted that Eldrick sounded like a Viking or Norse name. It struck me the same. So I got to thinking – maybe Tiger Woods should become ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’. Talk about a name that aptly describes his professional persona. And his fellow professionals would not admit it but they do fear him for good reason. He kicks their butts time and again. And talk about the merchandising opportunities. There’s a Saturday morning cartoon smash hit in ‘that there’ name. Not to mention a full slate of action figures. I contend that Tiger Woods is not an exciting action figure. But ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’ comes with shields, helmets and saves impoverished villagers from the tyrannical King and his court every time. He is respected and beloved by all.

Tiger Woods is a memorable name and an argument can be made that it is known nearly to the degree that Muhammad Ali once was renowned. But I think using the name ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’ has even more potential for lasting value and would only add to his legend. Professional athletes sometimes choose unusual names in order to differentiate themselves from their peers. It seems to happen more often when their talent is unremarkable. There was a football player who changed his name to ‘He Hate Me’ when in the short lived XFL several years ago. His real name was Rod Smart. Maybe he was smart or maybe not I will let others judge that one. But I (and others) remember it.

Jimmy ‘the Greek’ Snyder had a great nickname. ‘Erik the Red’ has offered thousands of years of lasting value. A thousand years from now which name do you think has greater lasting value, Tiger Woods, or ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’? It’s no contest in my view.

What do you think?

A great opportunity

A great opportunity for Tiger Woods to re-brand himself as ‘Eldrick the Fearsome’ www.markkolier.wordpress.com

Clients and prospect

Clients and prospects are now talking about customer acquisition. Are you digging a new mine? http://htxt.it/8p7t

Advertisers are Mobile phones at last begin to give customers some value – but they still could do more

Unilever announced that they are beginning a trial run this weekend of mobile couponing for specific products like Breyers Ice Cream, Dove soap, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, and Lipton Tea. (You can read more about it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124354778510364127.html). The test is being conducted at a ShopRite store in Hillsborough, NJ. From today’s WSJ article - ‘To get the coupons, customers must visit the Web site Samplesaint.com, from which they can transmit the Unilever discount offers to an Internet-enabled cellphone. At checkout, the cashier scans the bar code on the phone's screen, redeeming the coupon and deleting it from the phone’

Good idea on being able to get the coupon on your phone. In fact in 2009 (this exists in other countries already) your airline boarding pass will also be downloadable to your mobile device and you will have the TSA and gate agent scan the barcode displayed on your phone – good-bye paper.

But why is Unilever limiting coupon download to a non-Unilever website? Looking at how people use the internet I searched Breyers, Dove Soap, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, and Lipton Tea and a couple of the sites had an area for coupons but they were not intuitive to download (check it out for yourself). This is a test promotion so while having the portal to get the coupon on the home page is not possible I believe the test will not be representative since who will remember Samplesaint.com? This simply is not how people use the internet to get what they want and it almost seems like a branding opportunity for Samplesaint.com and not one of the noted Unilever
products.

CGSM advises our clients that one or two clicks work best when trying to create an action or response. Downloadable coupons will be the standard very soon – I suspect the Unilever test will be inconclusive mainly due to asking the consumer to work a little harder.

Do you agree?

LinkedIn is a great business search engine

By now those of you who have read some of my posts know that I have no real use for Plaxo (although I am a ‘member’) but am a regular user of LinkedIn. I have yet to become what I see a number of people are which is what I call a ‘serial networker’. Those with more than 500 contacts fit this moniker. I have over 300 and personally know and have met almost every single person in my network. This is unlike Twitter on which I have nearly 600 followers but have met under 30. More on following large groups of people on Twitter in a subsequent post.

But I really think LinkedIn provides are great tool and service for business people. Since the information is self-provided it is generally accurate if not a bit embellished. (Save for the prevaricators that are no doubt members as well but hopefully not in my network).

Whenever I am given a new contact via referral the first thing I do is type their name into the search function of LinkedIn. It does not work every time since there are still many folks who are not on LinkedIn or there are times when there are too many John Smiths to figure even if you know the geographic location. Since the information is what people provide on their own and when you do get a proper profile you get a snapshot of their location, career path, education and even a few interests. This is BEFORE you have even LinkedIn with them. And answering questions in specific areas does build your standing and reputation as a resource which has helped me and our company gain business.

But it gets better than that. Search by company can provide position locations for job searches. Industries can be investigated by category. And people with whom you have lost touch can be found (yes this is done on Facebook and other social networks as well). Of course you can get great information via Google and Yahoo but I have found LinkedIn to be faster and quite reliable.

Did I mention that Linkedin is free? They do have a revenue model for enhanced access and the ability to send messages to people with whom you would like to be in touch but have no contact. More importantly introductions via people you are connected to work out really well as there is a level of inherent trust built in.

I don’t understand why anyone would not want to be listed on LinkedIn. The days of reveling in ones anonymity are over. People can find out things about you in many other places. Just ask and read about Justice Scalia this past week. Wouldn’t want them to find out things about you from your own perspective?
Have a great holiday weekend.

Dominating Twitter -

Dominating Twitter - new blog post - http://htxt.it/yAh4

Do ALL social networ

Do ALL social networks HAVE to be about commerce? New blog post - www.markkolier.wordpress.com

Finally an explanation of why I cannot use my mobile phone on the plane

Of course I am not sure if I believe it or not. Last night a flight attendant did do something unusual. When admonishing a passenger for not turning off his phone she explained that mobile phones are operative to about 10,000 feet.

When a passenger is on a mobile phone control tower instructions in their headphones are accompanied by a high pitched noise. Apparently this is not bad if one person is on the phone but if there are a plane full of people the cacophony in the pilot’s headset makes it difficult to communicate with the control tower. This sounded strangely plausible to me. But what was best was the flight attendant’s willingness to lift the curtain a bit and let passengers (i.e. customers) in on what should not be a secret.

Why have I never heard this before? I know that should it be true (and I have no reason to doubt it but somehow do anyway) I would not want the pilot of the plane I was flying on having noise and consequently an inability to hear instructions from the people who are watching little blips on the screen all day.

Airlines are hardly specialists in communicating with their customers. On countless occasions reasons for delays go unreported or worse when you get information it’s something like – ‘ATC has put a hold on air traffic so we have to wait to hear back from them before we can take off. Thanks for your patience.’ Then they offer no communication (or water or food) often for an hour or more! This is how mutinies are born!

So to have an explanation for something that we all have been thinking about for a long time (or at least I have) was refreshing and I can go with it. For now. I still cannot figure out why or how an Ipod or headphones would interfere with communications so maybe that will be explained on my next flight. But I am not counting on that.

Airline Madness! Why I am going to visit Detroit and Cincinnati for 30 minutes each

I have to go to Minneapolis next week for a meeting or two. It’s a one day trip out of necessity as I have things going both before and after that require my being close to the office. It’s about a 2 ½ - 3 hour direct flight to get to Minneapolis from a New York area airport. Kind of like going to Chicago and it’s normally pretty easy and reasonably priced to get to Chicago.

Not so much for Minneapolis. Direct flight – (and there are a few but not many choices) - $ 1,470.00. No I did not use Priceline as I need to be there at a particular time and cannot deal with the uncertainty that is Priceline. But going through Detroit to get to Minneapolis and coming back to New York City through Cincinnati the fare was $ 163.00. Not $ 1,163.00. $ 163.00 ROUND TRIP! I am thinking it is unlikely the Detroit and Northern Kentucky (where the Cincinnati Airport is located) Airport authority is that strong a lobby to build traffic for wayward travelers, (however it would be terrific idea if they had!).

But by flying more total miles and taking 4 planes instead of 2, I saved more than $ 1,300.00 How can this make any sense? It doesn’t for me so it must make sense for the Delta/Northwest right? Both Detroit (Northwest) and Delta (Cincinnati) have hubs in these cities and have many flights going every which way from those hubs. So I imagine that there are unsold seats on planes leaving from those hubs and somehow it makes good business sense (to the airline) to fleece the customer who wants to go direct from New York to Minneapolis. What they end up with is a customer who is aggravated and I have not even gone to the airport yet. Yes I will be fine and people who live further from major cities like New York have to deal with this all the time.

I have done quite a bit of traveling this year and plan to continue that trend. I have not had big time complaints with the airlines this year. Most flights I have taken have been reasonably on time and the service (less and less) was pretty much what I expected. Yet out of all the things I have done this by far bothers me the most. Customer loyalty? Why would I be loyal to an airline that runs me through the wringer? Why would you? It’s not a service proposition – domestic air travel here in the United States is pretty uniformly dreadful. So price continues to rule the day. Would I have paid more to go direct? Yes but nowhere near $ 1,300!

I’m willing to bet that almost all people do not run their business this way. How long would our companies last if we did? What say you?

Live Concerts are a better value than sporting events

The opening of two sparkling new baseball parks in the Metropolitan New York area gave critics and fans (sometimes they are one in the same) plenty of things about which to complain and praise. I was at Citi Field (maybe we should call it U.S. Government Field) opening night. The ballpark is beautiful but of course compared to rickety old Shea Stadium that’s not saying much. Yet I grew up watching the Mets at Shea. Citi Field seems to me like another team’s ballpark. I expect that to change when I attend more games but I could not even get to see a third of the stadium as I actually was there to watch a baseball game. One comment I heard was that the Mets (and Yankees too I presume) are more interested in attracting consumers than baseball fans. At an average ticket price of well over $ 100 many baseball fans are priced out of the equation.

I read this morning that despite the current deep recession live concert sales are up more than 18% 2008 over 2007. And if you have paid any attention to live concert ticket prices they appear to me to be no less expensive than baseball games at the new parks (or football games for that matter) – probably a good deal more. Of course $ 200 plus for Miley Cyrus is something I cannot fathom. And I have gone to the New York Philharmonic a few times recently and their ticket prices for a good orchestra seat are slightly less than a good seat at Citi Field.

But live concerts are a better value by far in my opinion. And I love sporting events. Yo-Yo-Ma and Miley Cyrus don’t have off nights when they perform. Or if they do it’s for the most part unnoticed by those in attendance. The orchestra, the ensemble, and frankly all the professional in the performing arts (on and off Broadway are great examples) have a much higher standard of accountability than athletes. How do professional baseball players, football players and other athletes not know the rules of the game? If a pitcher has a bad game he comes out in the third inning. I don’t believe I have ever heard of an artist leaving the stage saying ‘I just don’t have it tonight’ – or their manager pulling them off stage for the same reason.

There’s no question in my mind what is the better value. That does not mean I won’t be going back to Citi Field to see my beloved Mets soon, (and I will also venture to the Bronx to see the Yankees even though I cannot stand them though I do like Jeter) because I’m a baseball fan. But people that go to live concerts are there for the performance and experience. I am not certain of the same with sporting events anymore.

Agree? Disagree? What do you think?

I need new skills. You do too.

Even though I run my own company I feel I still must answer to my employees, clients and colleagues. Everyone is counting on me to keep up with what is new in communications, advertising and specifically direct response marketing. A ton of pressure right? Yes and no.

I realize there is no way for me to be the most knowledgeable about all the new developments and things that are on the marketplace. But I do strive to know enough to be able to discuss what’s going on with those that know more than me (there are a lot of these people).

Engaging smart people in conversation is easier than you might think – social networks, twitter queries all enable me to find a little just about anyone - unless they mask their identity or choose not to engage. Even then you can find things out about people.

So I have developed new skills - blogging, reading social media data, trying to help clients realize where they should be engaged in both new and old media which requires me to know more things about new and old media. I don’t know how to write HTML code or any code for that matter but would be interested in at least better understanding the difficulties and complexity – after all our company has developers that do these things but they remain sort of a holy grail to me since I just have no clue.

What I know most of all is that I will continue to have to learn new things. This results in reading about the same thing in multiple places (the internet is the home of the derivative article and viewpoint) which is a total waste of time. The internet is also a great place to waste a lot of time.

You can never be tired of learning new things. You can be tired and not feel like it sometimes. But you, like me, need new skills. Skills you will need tomorrow and beyond. Why not start today?

Ten Tried and True Recession cliches

There are so many recession clichés.
1. We’re closer to the bottom than the top
2. It will get worse before it gets better
3. People are changing their spending habits
4. Right sizing (this means people lose their jobs)
5. Workforce reduction (this also means people lose their jobs)
6. There is still a lot of pain to be doled out
7. Any recovery will take years not months
8. People were using their homes as an ATM
9. This is a crisis of confidence
10. An opportunity exists to grab market share at lower costs

And those are just a few – I bet you can come up with so many more.

The last one may not be as popular but being a marketing guy I think it might be the most important. In the current culture of expense slashing and burning, marketing budgets have also taken a major hit. No doubt some of that is warranted (John Wanamaker’s famous words ‘Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half – still ring true today).

And most marketers are aware that there are great opportunities out there to have a louder voice since so many companies are pulling advertising dollars out. Yet people are still buying things – less expensive things but still buying. Recent data suggests an uptick in consumer spending. I’ve seen municipal associations promote the going out to restaurants as a way to save city jobs and contribute to the economic recovery as a whole.

My company has taken to investing in research and development to an even greater degree since opportunities for learning have not been this good in years. Some of our clients are moving away from tried and true channels like mail and on-page advertising to – direct response television? Yes since media time AND the production costs for a television commercial have not been this cheap for years. And they may not be again for a long, long, time.

I have clients and associates who are having a great 2009 so far. It can happen! And it inspires me and makes me feel that we are on the beginning of the upslope on the other side of the trough. There’s another cliché. They flow so easily.

So join me in encouraging marketers to redouble their efforts to get the most bang for their buck (yeah I know). All that is at stake is your present and your future.

What time is it? Does it even matter?

I have been thinking about this post for quite a while. Maybe more today since I am getting some work done at the office on a Sunday afternoon (I did play 18 holes this morning – in 3 hours!).

When I was quite a bit younger (longer ago than I care to think about) time seemed to be broken down into easily understandable units. There was school time, play time, family time, vacation time, practice time (sports or music or whatever), breakfast time, lunch time, dinner time and always the despised bed time. Summer time meant a lot when I was a kid. I am still a bit wistful about not having 3 months of no school or work. As I got through college there was class time, study time and party time (NOT in that order necessarily).

Once in the workforce there was work time, after work time (leisure time – I never liked that term very much), weekend time, and vacation time.
Then I got married and eventually had kids so and consequently the term ‘quality time’ with the family became operative. It’s all fine and dandy. But in the past few years that has really changed. People work all the time and if you do business overseas your work time can be another’s sleeping time. Many of us have PDA’s and get messages constantly – weekdays, weeknights and weekends. Social networking has messages coming to you at all times (sometimes personal sometimes business). More recently Twitter allows people to send up to the minute status reports and what they are doing at any moment.

I actually like working on the weekends. I don’t do it every weekend or even both weekend days (at least not often). Many times like so many people I know I go home and work remotely to stay ahead of the onslaught of constant messages. When I am on vacation I prefer to know what messages have been received so that I can decide what is important enough to earn a response prior to my return. I don’t know anyone who likes coming back from vacation with 624 messages awaiting their perusal.

At the same time I don’t feel guilty if I do a non-work thing during the five days ‘business week’. And whoever made up the 5 days on 2 days off thing ought to be shot – I would much prefer 4 and 3 but was not around for that meeting. Convention still dictates that people operate along the Monday – Friday guidelines since old habits are hard to break but I see that changing too. Your clients, employees, employers and associates have become accustomed to timely if not immediate response to important messages.

Eventually (if you are not already) we all will be able to be reached and be able to respond 24/7. I don’t see that as a sign of the apocalypse but I do think expectations of adequate response time will have to change. I realize that employees do not want to have to be on call and accountable to their company at any given moment. And there are plenty of bosses who already abuse that tactic. Yet I feel that knowing what is going on is a good thing. It is up to each of us to understand the expectations of action/response. There are times when things need an immediate response. But they are not as frequent as most people think. Time doesn’t really care at all. People have divided it up to suit their own desires and purposes. I wonder if our ultra connectivity will change the notion of time overall? Do you wonder the same?

Rental Cars – services keep going down and prices keep going up

After traveling internationally more than just a bit recently, I had a two day trip in and out of Cincinnati this past week. I have been renting cars from Budget and occasionally Hertz for the most part over the past twenty years. The current economic downturn has impacted the car rental companies in many ways. Fewer renters, older cars as car manufacturers seem to have discontinued the practice of leasing new cars to the car rental companies in order to get people to try them out.

So people are not buying cars and consequently GM, Ford, Toyota and all the others are no longer offering those low mileage cars to renters. The best rate we could come up with on a one day 3 hour rental was $ 270.00 for a full size (that being a Ford Taurus which does not seem very full size to me). For twenty seven hours. Digging a little deeper the day before my trip we found that we could rent a minivan for $ 205.00 for the same period. So we went for it as like many companies we are looking to hold down expenses wherever possible.

If you are not aware Budget and Avis are now ‘one’. Budget has a ‘Fast Break’ program for frequent renters. I am in the program and for the most part it is pretty good – the rental bus drops (or sometimes you just walk over if within the airport like in Tampa) customers off at the kiosk which has a display listing your name and which row you can choose any car. Not in Cincinnati (whose airport is actually in Northern Kentucky). All the Avis and Budget customers had to exit at the Avis lot (apparently the Budget lot had closed unbeknownst to me) and wait since the computers were down.

Standing in the rain waiting my ten to fifteen minutes I considered how much car rentals have changed. The paradigm appears to be cars with high mileage, low choice opportunity, more expensive prices than ever before (stick it to the business traveler as a one week renter does not pay much more than 50% than the one day plus I rented!), and declining customer service.

From what I can see all the car rental companies are following this same model. The real question is why car rental companies thought lowering customer expectations is a good idea in the first place. It just isn’t. I feel there is a big time opportunity to cull out a different model in the car rental marketplace. It will take Virgin-Atlantic or maybe even a Jet Blue new approach but I think people would respond to something away from the lousy and seemingly identically boring alternatives available now. What do you think?

Thoughts on Tokyo – Part VI – Tokyo – it’s all about the hair and the mask

9:30PM on Sunday night in Tokyo and the Hair Salon is bustling. There are actually people waiting their turn to spend more than $ 100US to color, tease, and style the head s of 36,000,000 people. Maybe it’s just sheer numbers but I have never seen so many hair salons in my life. The Japanese are so very into their hair. Guys too. I had great difficulty in processing that fact. The guys had colored their hair – that Henna color being the preferred shade. Then the teased odd hairdo’s that were I assume to suggest a highly self-expressive individual. I felt it made men look like a bunch of wusses. Maybe the women like that but I can’t really say for sure.

But servicing the customer is what the hair salons are all about and staying open late on a Sunday night speaks to that more than anything else could. I am also aware that so many young unmarried Japanese women live at home with their parents (cultural and economical) and have ‘disposable’ income. That income seems to direct line to their hair and clothes. But the guys too? I fail to understand how looking like someone should beat you up would attract the ladies. Yet another reason why hard as I try I just don’t really understand the Japanese.

Almost all the Japanese dress stylishly even to go to the market. On Saturday or Sunday as well. Many of the outfits are chic and tasteful and then there are those that border on the provocative. They guys look more like they stepped out of a bad George Michael Video. Then there is the mask thing. I was there during allergy season but even though I had seen photos of Asian people wearing hygiene masks I was not prepared for the amount of people wearing them as they walked around and rode the subway. Apparently after WWII a host of cedar trees were planted in Tokyo and the residents suffer miserably in the spring during allergy season. But at times it was 50% of the people. Alarming. And something you would never see in the United States.

The other mask I noticed in Japan was the one worn by people when they were alone just walking around going about their business. Implacid faces, vacant looks, I am trying not to think it was just me but their overall demeanor was radically different when there were two or more people. Americans may not be the most friendly people on the planet but they will at least look at you when you walk by. The mask must protect people but I admit I had no success in getting used to it.
There are many things that make Tokyo so very different from the western world – I keep thinking of new ones all the time.

Thoughts on Tokyo – Part III – Tokyo is no place for direct mail

I remember the first time I went to Tokyo in 2000. The area in which my friends were living was very chic and filled with westerners. Where my friends live now (they have moved around several times) is also a very nice area but more typically Japanese with few westerners (that’s means you!). But the thing all these areas seem to share is that there are (except for major thoroughfares) no street signs and no street addresses posted. How does the mailman know where to go? They do it by neighborhood and somehow it works. But it does not work if you want to send any kind of offer to the household aside from a generic message on behalf of a neighborhood business.

Japan does not have lists of people to buy and sell as is the case in the U.S. and many other places. Since the population is so homogenous there is no need for demographic and psychographic profiling. People are not all that different – at least city people are city people and country people are country people. In Japan mail is delivered 7 days a week and you pretty much have to check your mailbox every time you return home. I did not get to see any offers from companies that may have provided services to my friend but I imagine that there may be some mailing to customer files but then again maybe not. I was told how efficient the Japanese postal service is, and that would be consistent with just about everything in Japan. The Japanese postal service is being privatized over the next 9+ years. This is something that is often discussed about the USPS but never really seems to gain any real traction.

The cultural reasons would seem to be many for why there is no customer list industry in Japan but I am sure that there are many Americans that would prefer if there were little advertising mail in the United States. There are however no shortages of direct response television ads and some of the same characters that hawk products on American television can be seen doing the same complete with dubbing, subtitles etc. for selling those products in Japan. I wonder if the Japanese will use the mail any differently as the amount of advertising messages continue to increase there as much as in the U.S... I for one think it is a channel that could be leveraged but it would not be easy (what is easy these days?).

And don’t ever just throw your unwanted mail in the garbage. In Tokyo your neighbors make up what I call the ‘garbage police’. The recycling standards are quite high in Tokyo and as gai-jin (foreign people) are not fully familiar with garbage protocols you can spend fifteen minutes being admonished by your neighbor due to your errors in separating your garbage. These people take this stuff seriously! Good thing though – 36 million people have big time garbage potential. And even with the strict standards there are mutant super crows that prowl the streets of Tokyo. These birds are scary big and appear to have hit the steroid stash. They make noise 24 hours a day and frequently made me feel as if I were in an Edgar Allen Poe story or Alfred Hitchcock movie. I have heard that the crows have actually gone after people and they take small animals regularly. One final observation about garbage in Tokyo (and Europe for that matter) – re: public garbage cans. There aren’t many. Having been to Europe twice in the past 9 months as well as Tokyo I have never carried my trash around more in my life. However the streets of Europe and Tokyo were infinitely cleaner than in New York (not saying much) or most other places in the U.S. Yes there is a correlation. But it would take an American quite some time to get used to that!